This has to be one of the most tactile of native plants, rivalled closely by Adenanthos sericeus, with its silver white foliage and hundreds of purple flowers it is a coveted specimen for many gardeners. The bees love it too as you can see in the image above.

Eremophila nivea is absolutely striking even when not in flower, nivea Latin niveus means snow or snow white, referring to the overall appearance of the shrub, this silver colour contrasts easily with other greens in the garden and make this a stunning feature shrub. Eremophila nivea is from Western Australia and therefore dislikes the weather and soil on the east coast and needs to be grafted if it is to survive here. Two common varieties are Eremohpila nivea ‘Blue Velvet’ and Eremophila nivea ‘Beryls Blue’, they vary slightly in foliage and flower colour.

The main reason for this post is that Eremophila nivea loves to be pruned, it should say ‘please prune me!’ on the label. The plant in this blog post receives pruning twice a year, nothing major just an all over tip prune to shape. This is done for two reasons, the first is to thicken it up and encourage flowers the second is to strengthen the plant. Because this is a fast growing species and quite dense it can easily snap in strong winds, especially after rain when it is top heavy. I planted this specimen 2 and 1/2 years ago and it has never looked so amazing!

Eremophila nivea Grafted can also be grown very successfully in pots if you don’t have a free daring soil or raised bed. Keep watering to a minimum and only water the soil around the root zone, don’t forget to tip prune and you should end up with a beautiful full snow-cloud of a plant dotted with purple 😉

It may be time to pot it up with some fresh native mix potting mix, especially if it has been in the same pot for more than 18 moths and has put on a lot of new growth.
I would also give it a light prune after flowering of 15-20%
Hope this info helps,

Hi I don’t know how to help my plant. It looks thin and is longer thick and fluffy. My soil is clay although I have added top soil and gypsum. I have only pruned it once in four years and I am unsure if I should prune it more. I pruned it just before winter. What is the life span of this plant? Might the roots be rotting as that has been the case for several other natives in my garden. Please help.

The Eremophilas appreciate a tip prune once or twice a year, if you can prune after flowering that will help the shrub stay dense and compact.
If you haven’t done it for a while I would suggest taking about 20% off all over and giving it some native slow release fertiliser.

Have a look at these garden pieces exclusively designed by Mallee!

People often ask advice on which birdbath is best for their garden and their circumstances. In this post, I outline the best way to choose the right birdbath. For most suburban gardens, where the gardener is interested in attracting more…Read more ›

I would like to introduce the mother of all the spun copper dishes the EXTRA Large, this strangely enough has been our latest edition to the family 😉 The extra large dish is 1100mm in diameter and holds approximately 50lt…Read more ›

I am pretty excited as we have a new toy, a wildlife camera to take photos of the birds in our birdbaths. It’s wonderful! I have tried so many times to take photos of the birds in my garden and…Read more ›

It is official! the Mallee birdbaths and water dishes have their very own online shop! they will be much more comfortable there 😉 they can take up as much space and get as much attention as they need. Please visit shop.malleedesign.com.au for…Read more ›

This is the new steel tripod stand for my spun copper dishes, this stand is designed to disappear into the plants in a garden bed. It is made up of three thin metal rods that taper and attach to a…Read more ›

I have set up a small display of my spun copper birdbaths and water bowls in the beautiful native gardens at Sydney Wildflower Nursery : 9 Veno St, Heathcote, located in southern Sydney Ph 9548 2818. The bird baths may be purchased…Read more ›

Please welcome “The Mini” dish to my bird bath family, yes, they have been breeding and this is the result 😉 a small shallow bird bath that holds 2 litres of water and is 420mm wide x 25mm deep. In…Read more ›